Construction of a $1-billion NFL stadium and a new wing of the Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles would dramatically increase the number of convention bookings while generating $22 million annually for the city, according to the findings of two reports commissioned by the project's developer. One study contends the two projects would generate $41 million in tax revenue annually for an array of government agencies, including the state, school district and Metropolitan Transportation Authority, during their first full year in operation in 2016.

The battle of NFL proposals has taken another interesting turn. AEG, pushing for a downtown stadium, announced Wednesday that it has selected Populous as the architectural firm to design the relocated West Hall of the Convention Center, which sits on the proposed site of Farmers Field. A senior principal at Populous is Staples Center architect Dan Meis, who designed Ed Roski's proposed City of Industry stadium. Populous, a global firm with offices worldwide, including a Los Angeles office, now will turn its attention solely to the downtown site.

The head of the entertainment conglomerate seeking to build a National Football League stadium in downtown Los Angeles shot back at skeptics Tuesday and reiterated his pledge that "not a penny" of taxpayer money would be spent on the mega-project. "The city's never going to have to pay a penny ? and we're going to guarantee it," said Timothy J. Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is behind the $1-billion stadium plan. "It's easy to take shots at this," said Leiweke, who seemed taken aback at public apprehension that taxpayers could be left footing the bill ?

Re "3 Sites Identified for Possible NFL Stadium," Jan. 17: If we must build a stadium -- and I don't see that that's a given, since a handful of jobs selling peanuts or beer is not a good trade-off for the amount of land a stadium requires -- build it at the Union Station site. Very simple reason: With the two (possibly soon three) branches of the Metro Rail -- the Red Line, the Blue Line and the Gold Line -- as well as Amtrak and Metrolink feeding patrons to the site, you would need less parking, hence waste less valuable land, and you would induce far, far less traffic than at the other sites.

As I watch the new football stadium materialize, mushrooming up from the dreams of small-minded men, I keep thinking of the Charles Bukowski character in "Barfly." Bukowski's girl goes off and sleeps with the buff bozo bartender, and a raging Bukowski demands to know how she could do that with somebody who stands for everything he's against. What are you against? She asks. Obviousness, Bukowski says. Unoriginal, macho sports energy.

The city of Walnut filed suit earlier this week to block a proposed NFL stadium in adjacent Industry, arguing in part that the developer's campaign failed to reach the city's large Asian population. Walnut is a predominantly Asian suburb about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and city officials said in their lawsuit that many residents don't speak English. The suit alleges that the city of Industry did not properly inform Walnut residents in their native tongues about the potential effects of the $800-million stadium.

The ceremonial signing of agreements Wednesday to take the next step in landing Los Angeles an NFL team went off without a hitch even though a light breeze kept knocking over a large rendering of the hoped-for Farmers Field stadium downtown. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the City Council's vote last week to approve the project means that Anschutz Entertainment Group negotiators can speedily move ahead with the final step - landing an NFL team for the proposed new stadium. It's also another step toward the continued revitalization of downtown, a "jewel" that still needs some polishing, the mayor said.

The Los Angeles Redevelopment Agency said Thursday it has identified three sites well-suited for a professional football stadium -- with the Memorial Coliseum the least expensive to develop, an industrial area near Union Station offering the most blight-erasing potential and property next to the Convention Center offering the best marketing opportunity for an NFL owner.

Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu hasn't declared himself a candidate to challenge Mayor Curt Pringle in the November election, coyly saying, "I'm keeping my options open." But if he tosses his name and business fortune into a race against the seasoned Orange County politician, as some observers believe he'll do, Sidhu will be in position to make the city's taxpayer-funded effort to land a National Football League team the prime campaign issue.

Although city officials have promised not to use public funds to build a professional football stadium in Los Angeles, the City Council will meet next week to consider a plan that would allow the use of property taxes to construct a parking garage and improve streets that could serve a stadium. The council will hold a public hearing with the city redevelopment commission Friday to consider extending the life of the Hoover Redevelopment Project for another 12 years.